Page 18 of Player For Hire

“That I can handle. Go on, you know you want to touch all the books.”

I did. Oh, how I did. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

“Take your time.”

I watched him go back down those winding stairs, his messy flop of damp hair curling around his angular face as he glanced back at me before disappearing.

I tried to ignore the knots in my stomach from the unexpected mutual attraction that seemed to be going on between us. Why did it have to happen now when my life was in such a weird space? The liminal call to a future and the fading past, and in all of it, I had no idea where the heck I was going.

Just perfect.

However, the call of the books pushed that to the back of my brain for now and I was grateful for it. My fingers brushed over the ornate spines. The fact that so many fantasy and romance novels were embracing the beauty of the physical book again made my heart happy. I plucked one after another off the shelves and flipped through them to see the insides.

Illustrated pages, even special vellum pages drew me deeper into the pure joy of savoring a book. The open window into another world that I didn’t have to control or pretend I had control over.

I replaced one of my favorites with a little sigh. The special version was so very tempting, but it was definitely the kind that would need to be a reward. Maybe when I found a new job. But right now, I couldn’t allow myself to spend on the art.

Without thought, I found myself sitting cross-legged in front of the lower shelves as I was drawn to a dark cover that promised spice. The dark and delicious slide into sensuality that I secretly loved.

The story sucked me in quickly with earthy prose and a woman who longed for the exploration of what two bodies could provide. If she was open to it.

I felt that.

No one had ever found the key to my passions. Mostly because it required a patience most men wouldn’t offer. I even tried to write it myself, to allow my characters to feel it at least, but no matter how creative I was, I never could quite find the words to give to the story.

But this author did.

This book must have been the second in a series the way it jumped into the scene with the dragon shifter and his mate.

My heart flipped and tumbled as the scene unfolded. The slow glide up and into destruction for the character as she discovered what it was to give herself to someone. To find her other half.

“That kind of scene is definitely missing from the books I read.”

I jumped and flattened the book against my chest. “I?—”

Colder stood behind me, leaning on the bookcase with two to-go cups of coffee. “What’s the title?”

My face had to be scarlet. I mean, the heat in my flushing cheeks went right beyond a blush into oblivion.

Saying nothing, I drew my knees up as if to protect the book and the knowledge inside of it.

He grinned. “It looks pretty hot and heavy.” He crouched in front of me. “I had no idea the fantasy books included that. Not that there’s a lack of romance in some of the books I read, but there’s definitely not that kind of description.”

“How long were you reading over my shoulder?”

“Just a page or three.”

Could my face get hotter? Pretty sure that was a no.

He held the cup out to me. “Is that what you write?”

“What? No. Definitely not.” Quickly, I shoved the book back on the shelf and took the cup from him.

His gaze shifted to the shelf then back to me. “Why not?”

“I’m a tech writer.”

“Pretty sure most authors don’t set out to write tech books.”